Our burglar has been apprehended by the authorities! He was caught in the middle of robbing someone else’s house, and the police noted the presence of a large gas bottle in the back of his car. They connected the dots and extracted from the offender the location of the stolen barbeque – a nearby pawnbroker (which will not be named here). It seems that the burglar cashed in a few Wii games in the same transaction. All in all, there were nine games recovered:

Common wisdom suggests that felons often revisit the scene of the crime, even if it doesn’t make common sense. In line with common wisdom, the Videogame Burglar returned to our residence on Friday the 17th of September 2010 and stole my housemate’s barbeque, worth around $400. The burglar must have noted the barbeque’s presence on his initial visit, chained up and padlocked outside, and made a mental note to return later with bolt-cutters. How no-one notices this stuff and reports it is beyond me, but the neighbours didn’t seem to mind the sound of smashing glass the first time round…

The good news is – assuming it’s the same person – this means that the burglar is local. One of my neighbours came around last weekend to let me know he had seen the burglar driving away in my car and had a full mental picture of the man’s face, which is also encouraging.

So let this be a word of warning to you, Mr. Videogame Burglar: you got sloppy, and you slipped up! You could have been anywhere, but now we know you’re in the area! Enjoy it while it lasts, because your thieving days are numbered…